Lindsey Ramsland was part of Valley Christian’s last state volleyball championship in 2009. Now she is back to her roots as coach with another title in her mind.

“We earned that state championship and we deserved it,” Ramsland said. "We hit semifinals almost every year from my freshman, sophomore, junior and senior year. I really hope that this team can do the same thing.

Ramsland plans to use her background as a defensive specialist to pass her experience to her young team.

Ramsland was the freshman and junior varsity coach at Valley Christian before getting her second head coaching job.

“It is amazing to be back. I have some of my old JV girls from my junior varsity team,'' Ramsland said. "They all work hard and are all very adaptable.

“All of these girls can play multiple positions so I have a ton of amazing ball control with this team. They are all just very young.”

 

Senior Makena Schaetzle played for Ramsland her freshman and sophomore years. "I love her personality and how vocal and happy she was from the start. She is more understanding than most coaches and I can talk to her about anything. She gives us a ton of feedback and she just wants us to get better.”

Ramsland remembers 2009 well. It is when her volleyball dream began.

“First of all, I had the most amazing teammates so coming in as a freshman it was very nerve racking,'' Ramsland said. "I had amazing players especially our outside hitters who played at some awesome D1 schools.”

Her first varsity coaching job was at Tempe Prep.

“I got a lot of experience from Tempe Prep for coaching their varsity team," Ramsland said. "It really helped me go to this program and see what I have here. It helped me learn how to make this program even better. It is fun to work with a new group of girls but it is fun to come back and here to have my old group again.''

The Trojans (2-2) won two of the five games in the Coconino Classic tournament and look to rebound against a tough opponent in Fountain Hills.

The young squad will rely on its coach to bring success.

 

“Coach’s attitude can bring a lot to our team," said junior Breanna Brooks. "She has had that type of success before so she knows what it feels like and what it takes to get to there. She knows how to prepare us and I appreciate how she is willing to work with us to fix our mistakes.”